The draw puts the three favorites on the same side of the draw
Badosa and Muguruza will debut against Ferro and Kanepi
MADRID, 19 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The draw for the men’s draw at Roland Garros this Thursday concentrated Rafa Nadal, 13-time champion, and Novak Djokovic, number one in the world, on the same path as a possible quarter-final crossover, while in the semifinals Carlos Alcaraz, a draw that provided a complicated picture for Paula Babosa and something better for Garbiñe Muguruza.
Paris, which starts the action on Sunday, unveiled its crosses and the spotlights were on the three musketeers. Nadal, king of the land and Philippe Chatrier, will arrive pending increasing discomfort in his left foot, recurring both in Madrid and Rome, and will debut against the Australian Jordan Thompson.
Meanwhile, the also Spanish Alcaraz, recent champion in the capital and who rested in the Italian event, will debut against a rival from the previous one, and Djokovic, current champion in Paris, will do so in the first round against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka. Both Nadal and Alcaraz had no bad luck with the crosses.
The level would rise exponentially in the quarterfinals, where the Murcian would face Alexander Zverev, according to the favoritism of the ranking, and the Balearic with Djokovic. The Serbian is back, thanks to his title in Rome and a high-level game, after a year that started in the worst way with his deportation from Australia.
As for the rest of the Spaniards, Jaume Munar will play his first game against Daniel Altmaier; Carlos Taberner, against Borna Coric; Albert Ramos will face Thanasi Kokkinakis; Pablo Andújar, before Marco Cecchinato; Pedro Martínez will debut with Henri Laaksonen; Alejandro Davidovich, before Tallon Griekspoor; Pablo Carreño against Gilles Simon and Roberto Carballés, with Oscar Otte.
Meanwhile, in the women’s draw, Badosa and Muguruza, the two best Spanish tricks, had mixed luck to try to go far in Paris. Badosa, who reached her first quarter-final in a ‘big’ last year at the French Open, will debut against the demanding Fiona Ferro.
The Spanish-Venezuelan, champion in 2016 and hoping to overcome a bad season in Paris, had a more friendly draw that will start with the Estonian Kaia Kanepi. In addition, Nuria Párrizas will face the French Leolia Jeanjean in the first round.